1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to surface finishing processes and more particularly to a pre-finishing process for textured wood composite substrates to achieve a natural appearing wood finish thereon.
2. Description of Related Technology
To make composite wood panels appear like natural hardwood, such structures are typically finished by multiple applications of stains or glazes which are then selectively removed by hand. Additionally or alternatively, portions of a composite panel may be highlighted by spray gun application of a shading material.
Attempts have been made to finish wood composite panels or structures, such as a door, utilizing an automatic finishing line. However, such process lines have not been fully automated because hand-rubbing has been required to achieve the appearance of natural hardwood. The hand-finishing step of the finishing process is not only slow (e.g., for panels or door facings it results in very low production speeds of five to thirty feet of material per minute), but expensive because it is labor intensive.
Furthermore, because such a process line requires sufficient "open" time to allow for hand-rubbing of the composite panel, solvent- or lacquer-based products, which can present health and fire hazards, have been utilized to finish the wood in lieu of safer water-based wood finishing products.
Prior to the invention, there have been no known in-line, fully automatic finishing processes utilizing water-based finishing products that produce a realistic wood finish on a contoured surface such as a molded door panel.